A Second Chance at Love
by LilyLovesPoto
Summary: Re-written 15 years after the events at the Opera Garnier Christine and Raoul return to the opera house for it's re-opening. They have two children now and life seems good... but what will happen when strange things happen again in the Opera Garnier. R
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Christine, could you come here?" Raoul called from the house.

I sighed; I had just sat down and started on my new book. Standing from my seat in the garden and setting the book down on the chair, I started walking back to the mansion. I looked around at the beautiful flowers- they would inevitably die in a few weeks. As I took one more look at the garden, just before going inside, something caught my eye: a rose. All the memories from fifteen years ago came back to mind, as if they just happened. I closed my eyes, yet saw the events play over and over again on my eyelids. Snapping them open, I thought, "No! I won't let this afflict me any longer." I walked towards the house, and didn't look back.

Opening the back door, I walked slowly through the house, looking over every item Raoul and I had collected through the years. Pleasant memories flooded my mind; memories of our adventures. We'd traveled to so many different places and met extraordinary people, but one memory kept coming to mind. When I was eight and a half months pregnant, my water broke in the middle of the street.

It was late April, and Raoul and I were sightseeing thought the evening streets of London. Although I was heavily pregnant, I felt up to wandering around aimlessly. We had only been walking for a few minutes when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I paused for a few seconds, and Raoul looked back, putting an anxious hand on my shoulder. As we started to walk back to find someone to help us, my water broke. Fortunately for us, there were a few apartments shouldering the street, but only one had its lights on. The door we knocked on was that of an elderly couple.

They took us in immediately and the woman helped me to a guest room. It wasn't very well-lit; only two candles flickered on each side of the bed. In the brief second I got to look around the room, I noticed it was very simple. Yet, it had touches of elegance everywhere, in places you wouldn't expect. The curtains were a lovely- if not faded- green velvet and the scratched brass of the candle-holders had been polished. The elderly woman helped me to the bed and laid me down. She ordered her husband to take Raoul into the other room and keep him there until the birthing was over.

At first, Raoul had rejected the idea, but when he saw the determination in her wizened brown eyes, and the silent begging in mine, he reluctantly agreed. I was worried about being away from Raoul, but at the same time, I was secretly relived. Although I'd exposed myself to Raoul during sex, I still felt a bit embarrassed in front of him. I guess at some point after Raoul left, the lady sensed my tension and tried to get me to relax.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. We're both women, and I was a midwife back in my prime." Her smile was surprisingly caring, for being so small. "By the way, I'm Carol Plant."

Mme. Plant propped up my legs and gently spread them part. As she examined me, I couldn't help but blush and squeeze my eyes shut. It only took a minute or two, and after, Mme. Plant seemed somehow more determined. "I'll be back in a few minutes with the supplies. In the meantime, I'll send your husband in for comfort."

A thankful smile played across my face at this; I was beginning to feel a bit nervous. But just as Mme. Plant got to the door, a body-numbing pain surged through me. My scream was so piercing that it must have echoed through the apartment. Mme. Plant paused and took in the sight of me: writhing in pain, clutching the sheets, blonde curls sticking to my forehead as sweat rolled my face. I looked to her for help, but she just walked out of the room. I couldn't understand why I had been left to endure this pain alone, and I started to cry as it only got worse.

After a few seconds, I heard a knock on the door, and Raoul entered the room cautiously. "Mme. Plant will be back soon with everything; she said I could come in to see you." Raoul walked over to the bed, placing a light kiss on my forehead, and held my hand. The pain was fading away, bit by bit, until it was hardly anything at all. "…Are you alright?"

"I'm scared, Raoul," I whispered, and he held me tightly for a few seconds before putting his hands on the sides of my face and looking me in my eyes.

"I'm here with you, Christine. And I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

At that moment in time, any doubts I still had about Raoul- about what had happened almost a year ago- vanished in that instant. I knew that all my love was for Raoul and no one else. I pulled him closer and kissed him, with all the passion I had. When I let go, I was breathless.

"…I love you."

He smiled, brushing my hair back. "I know."

At that moment, Mme. Plant walked back into the room with a bundle; the supplies she had mentioned wrapped in an old bath towel. "Sir, would you leave? Your child will be coming soon, and it would be best if we were alone."

Raoul gave me one last peck on the cheek before leaving, wringing his hands as he joined M. Plant again.

"How long do you think it will be before-?" Another pain coursed through my body, just as bad as the first. I tried to repress my scream for Raoul's sake, but I couldn't keep it in any longer; it was even louder than before. In the midst of it all, my legs actually went numb for a few seconds.

Then, just as quickly as it had come, the pain was gone.

"Ma'am, in a just few minutes you'll have another pain just like those first two, and when I say so, it's very important that you push."

I was relieved that this wouldn't last much longer. I knew that childbirth was no walk in the park, but this was torture. "Will it take long?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"Not at all… But it'll be painful."

A few minutes later, just as she'd said, I was in agony. The first time she told me to push I hadn't "done it right," and Mme. Plant said if I didn't push as hard as I could, my baby would either die or suffer from a deathly illness. When it came time to push again, I almost exhausted myself with effort. My baby would not die.

"Good, Ma'am! After another push, we'll be able to see your child's head!"

When I heard that, I felt my strength rush forward again. It took an eternity until I had to push again, since I knew I was so close to seeing my beautiful child. I pushed again and the head and shoulders were out; I could hear my baby crying.

My baby. Crying.

"One more big push, Ma'am!" I gave it my all, and Mme. Plant held up my baby. "Congratulations; it's a little baby boy!" Mme. Plant examined me again, but a grim look crossed her face. This turned into one of joy, and then to one somewhere between the two.

"What, what is it? Is he alright?" I asked, panicked by the strange expression.

"Madame, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, congratulations again; you're having twins! But the bad news is that if we don't get the child out in the next few minutes, it could die."

I felt like crying again, but I was too determined to get both of my children into this world for tears. "Please… Please hurry and get my child out Mme. Plant!" I begged.

The second baby was much quicker and less painful than the first, and when the child came, it was as just as healthy and undamaged as its twin. A little girl; I could only stare at the pair of them, feeling exhausted, but indescribably happy.

Raoul came in after both babies were cleaned, and was so surprised he looked faint. "There's… Two…" he said, lamely.

After Raoul got accustomed to the idea of twins, we bickered over names until we both agreed: Christopher Gustave De Chagny for the boy, Lillian Rose De Chagny for the girl. It was such a happy occasion that M. and Mme. Plant allowed us to spend the night, no questions asked.

It was, without a doubt, the happiest and most perfect day of my life. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

"Christine?" Raoul poked his head into the room, making me start a bit. "Darling, what's taking you so long? I have a surprise for the whole family," he smiled.

"I'm sorry, dear; I was…" I gestured to all the trinkets across the table. "Just remembering, I guess. About Christopher and Lillian, mostly; quite the memory."

Raoul smiled again as he crossed to me, pulling me close as he kissed my forehead. "Well, unless you don't like surprises, you might want to follow me to the dining room."

I gave Raoul a peck on the cheek. "As you wish."

We walked hand-in-hand to the dining room, where Christopher and Lillian were already sitting patiently. "What's the surprise, Father?" Christopher asked.

Raoul sat me down and took his own place at the head of the table. "After all these years, I've heard they've finally finished rebuilding the Opera Garnier… And we're all going to Paris to see it!"

I gasped; so many thoughts rushing through my head, I could hardly make sense of them!

"When are we leaving?" Lillian asked, twirling her ringlets around her fingers excitedly.

Raoul grinned down at her. "As soon as you all get your bags, and pack well; it's a season-long journey."

**Thanks for reading and yes if this looks familiar it is a re-post but I have made changes and it is being co-written with GoddessEirene. LOVE HER SHE IS AMAZING! Please read and review and thanks once again. :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Nearly as soon as Raoul had told us, I went to pack my things. Back to the Opera Garnier: the place where everything started and, unfortunately, ended. I suppose, in some way or another, I'd always wondered whether Erik had made it out alive. But wondering meant I wasn't sure, and not being sure meant that there was the possibility that the mob had caught up, and that was too horrible to think about. I decided to think about other things to keep my mind off of Erik: a few scattered fantasies about singing on that stage again. It'd been years, of course, but it was a nice dream. One that Erik would probably…

I trailed away mid-thought. I'd be lying to tell you that I hadn't thought about Erik all those years. Who wouldn't? It was some uncomfortable mix of guilt and frustration and bitter sweetness every time, though, so I generally avoided thinking about him whenever I could help it. This was one of those "I could help it" moments, so I simply returned to packing. It was easier not to think while making idle chit-chat with Elaine, our housekeeper, who had the odd habit of keeping up with homemade remedies and cures and all. She was in the middle of telling me that putting mustard on a burn would keep it from swelling as we came down the stairs, bags in hand.

"Mother, what took you so long? I would like to leave sometime this year!" Lillian said, already surly from boredom.

"Hush, Lillian! It's not your place to speak out of turn," I reminded her.

Raoul called for the servants to take our bags to the carriage. Lillian and Christopher hung off his arms, watching, and asked if it would be a terribly long trip. "Around two days," he answered. "A train from here to Boucherville, and stay in an inn for the night. Then, bright and early the morning after, we'll take another train to Paris." Raoul stooped to pick Lillian up, pulling back with a rather melodramatic wince, pretending it was a huge effort. "Oh, no, I think I'm getting too old to pick the two of you up!" The children immediately started reciting how tall they were, how tall they were last year, and how far they could reach on the shelf.

It was such a spectacle that I stood back just to watch them. Sometimes, I forgot how lucky I was to have such a family. I liked to think that Papa would have loved being around them. It had been so long since I had talked to him, sat near his grave. It was then I remembered that Christopher and Lillian had never visited; I'd only ever told them a few stories from when I was a girl. "I know they're all but grown," I interrupted, reaching to tickle Lillian behind the neck and giggling some when she shrieked, "but do you think we might let them visit Papa? Maybe tell him about everything?"

"Christine, that sounds fantastic! We'll stop by before going to the boarding house." Raoul wrapped his arms around me and gave me a small, yet passionate kiss, then exaggerated it when Christopher and Lillian all but gagged. "Yes, I'm kissing your mother, how disgusting," he said with a wink.

"Father, the carriage is ready," Christopher said as he and Lillian ran outside, still making faces at each other.

"I guess we should start going now," I laughed, as Raoul snuck one more kiss to my cheek.

"It'd seem so." We walked out of the house, and Raoul helped me into the carriage. The first day of travel was uneventful but successful; no severe tantrums or complaints, although Lillian and Christopher got into a nasty quarrel over who was breeching who's carriage space. I ended up resolving it with challenging them to count how many birds they could find, and they ended up trying to invent names for the one they didn't know. When we got to Boucherville it was almost sunset, and they'd come up with the Gray Sharp-Beak, the Mocking sparrow, and the Yellow Spotted Blue-Belly. Raoul said that they should tell the Royal Academy of Science about their findings. After checking and settling into the room, Lillian and I decided to go on a quick shopping trip while Raoul and Christopher went and looked for a nice restaurant for dinner.

"Did you find a restaurant?" I asked as Lillian and I walked up to Raoul and Christopher. Lillian was now wearing a hat with so much lace on it that it was almost falling into her eyes, but she'd really begged for it, and strangled me with a hug when I bought it for her.

"A nice little one near the church," Raoul smiled.

"Excellent," Lillian said, adjusting her hat and standing with perfect posture. "I'm sure the town will be just green with envy over this, don't you think, Christopher?" They got into amiable banter over the quality of her hat, and whether or not it resembled an exploded pastry factory.

I noticed, as we walked around the town, that it was smaller than I thought a town could possibly be. There was everything you needed- stores and inns and such- but a lot less than anywhere I'd ever been. We finally got to the restaurant, just as Christopher realized that her hat was more like a cream puff than anything else, and sat near a wall; a friendly-looking older woman was the only other customer. I couldn't help but notice as we walked to our table and sat down that she kept staring at me as if she was confused. When we were done eating, I decided there was no harm in introducing myself. Standing and holding out a hand, I gave my warmest smile and said, "Hello, my name is Christine de Chagny. This is my husband Raoul, and our children: Christopher and Lillian."

For a brief second, the woman looked shocked, but it left as quickly as it came. Clasping my hand, she said, "Hello, Mme. de Chagny; my name is Marie."

Raoul stopped for a moment to introduce him before asking if he could take the children home, because bedtime had long since passed. After he left with them, I sat down across from Marie. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I wish we were staying longer so I could invite you over for tea sometime."

"Oh, that would be lovely. Are you leaving in the morning?" Marie asked.

"Yes; we're catching an early train to Paris. You see, my husband is taking us to see the Garnier! Have you ever heard of it?" I asked, realizing Marie might have no clue what I was talking about.

"Oh, yes! I've been there many times with my old friend, Catherine, who lives in Paris."

"Perhaps we've seen each other before; I used to sing there, you see. That's probably the main reason we're visiting again- old sights, old places, old friends…" I had to stop myself there before going any further, but just knowing that we were getting closer and closer to the Garnier every day made it terribly real. "I… Excuse me, but I should be getting back. It was wonderful meeting you," I said, standing and speaking far too quickly. I barely gave her the time to reply before leaving as quickly as I could.

By the time I reached the room, I was all but panting. Composing myself, I walked to our room and put on a smile. "Well, I think I have made a new friend today," I said. It wasn't that I couldn't trust Raoul, but I didn't see the need to spoil everything with a few bad memories.

"That's wonderful, darling!" Raoul said, pausing to smile as he dug through one of the bags to find Christopher's slippers. "We have an early train to catch tomorrow; care to help me get these two into bed?" It took some convincing, but eventually, Lillian and Christopher dropped off to sleep, and the two of us returned to the other bed. Raoul blew out the light, put an arm around me, and murmured, "Goodnight, Christine." He sounded half-asleep already.

"Goodnight."

"Nighttime sharpens… Silently the senses... Slowly, gently, night unfurls…Tremulous and tender…Dare you trust…"

I was underneath everything. Cold and dark and quiet, except for something that kept threading through my ears like a song.

"Softly, deftly, music shall caress you… secretly possess you… In this darkness… Close your eyes."

It kept fading in-between, and for some reason, I was driven to madness by it. I wanted to hear everything; I wanted to know what it was saying, I wanted to hear every word… And I wanted to know why it sounded so familiar…

"Leave all thoughts… Only then can you belong… Falling, sweet intoxication… Savor each sensation… Let your darker side give in...The power of the Music of the-!"

I woke up gasping.

Of course; it was only my imagination. But I had forgotten how soothing his voice was. I couldn't stop thinking about him, and because of it, I couldn't get back to sleep. If this was how the rest of the trip, especially in Paris, was going to be, then this was going to be a long couple of months.

"Wake up, Christine; we're leaving for the train station in half an hour," Raoul said, as he shook me lightly to wake me up.

"What time is it?" I asked, still very groggy from my lack of sleep thanks to a certain angel on my mind.

"Six o'clock." Raoul walked out of the room, already dressed, and went to wake up the children. I stayed in bed for a few minutes longer, until I finally had the motivation to get up and get dressed. The half hour we had before heading to the train station was a bit of a blur, and everything just seemed as if it was sped up. Then again, it was early and I was without coffee, so that might have just been me. We got to the train station just in time and sat in an empty compartment just across from two elderly women. I snuck a glance at them and saw it was Marie and another woman sitting in the compartment.

"Marie? Is that you?" I asked, and she looked over. Sure enough, it was her.

"Morning, Christine!" she said, smiling. "I'd like you to meet my friend: Madeline."

I curtsied toward the woman and she smiled back, politely. "Pleasure to meet you."

I didn't want to bother them, so I stopped the conversation there, but every so often I would feel Madeline staring at me. I just ignored it and chatted with Raoul, Lillian, and Christopher to pass the time. The children seriously were considering contacting the Royal Academy of Science, and Raoul had the nerve to encourage it. When I gave him a skeptical look, he shrugged. "What? I don't see any problem in letting them dream." Of course, I couldn't argue with this, and just squeezed his hand.

We finally got to the train station in Paris, and as soon as I got out, I looked around at my home. It was funny to call it that, but it probably was the best home I'd ever had. It had changed so much since last time. "Father's grave?" I prompted, in case Raoul had forgotten in the middle of all the travelling.

He laughed. "I wouldn't forget it for a moment." There was a carriage waiting for us, and Raoul went up to direct the driver.

"Are you excited to meet your grandfather?" I asked Christopher and Lillian while we were alone in the carriage.

"Oh, yes, Mother!" Christopher beamed. He was usually the first to ask about my childhood in Sweden, or for stories about Papa. I reached across to ruffle his hair a little.

"Calm down, Christopher, really," Lillian snapped, more than a little jealous. "It's just a stupid grave."

"Lillian, how dare you disrespect him?" I said, firmly. "I thought you would have learned better, learned not to insult the dead. You're only proving how little you understand by speaking that way."

"Sorry, Mother," Lillian said with her head down.

I took a moment to breathe before replying, quieter, "It's alright. But it's never acceptable to do that, will you remember? Even if he's passed, your grandfather was a great man, and one who surely loves you. There's no reason to snap at your brother for being happy."

Raoul got into the carriage. "Everything alright?" he asked, sensing that the mood had gotten suddenly tense.

"Fine," I replied, deciding to look out the window. He gave me a concerned glance as the carriage lurched forward, and the rest of the ride was particularly quiet.

**Thanks again for reading and just to be sure that you know I don't own anything and don't expect two updates in one day often or even at all until summer break. (Even then that is unlikely) Love you all read and review. :D**


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